Chapter 388: Born Without A Silver Spoon

Chapter 388: Chapter 122: Born Without A Silver Spoon

Destiny woke to the sound of someone arguing outside her room.

She opened her eyes slowly. Morning light filtered through the curtains, and for several seconds, she lay still, trying to remember where she was. Her body ached beneath the clean bandages covering her wounds, and her throat felt dry. The previous night’s battle returned in fragments: the cursed wolves, Dane’s desperate voice, the Heart Stone drawing blood from her body, and the terrible moment when she had thought she would never see him again.

She turned her head.

Dane sat in a chair beside her bed, his arms folded across his chest. His eyes were closed, but the tension in his face told her he had not slept properly. The moment she shifted beneath the blankets, his eyes opened.

“You’re awake.”

His chair scraped against the floor as he leaned toward her. He touched her forehead, then her cheek, checking her as though he expected her to disappear if he looked away for too long.

“How do you feel?”

“Sore.”

“Anything else?”

“Thirsty.”

He reached for the cup on the bedside table and helped her drink. She managed several sips before pushing it away.

“How long have I been asleep?”

“Most of the night. The priestess insisted you needed rest, and I agreed with her for once.”

Destiny managed a small smile. Then she noticed the bandage around his shoulder and the dark bruising along his neck.

“You’re injured too.”

“I’m fine.”

“You always say that.”

“And you always argue with me when you should be resting.”

She would have argued further, but he brushed a strand of hair away from her face. His expression softened, and the humor disappeared from his eyes.

“I thought I had lost you.”

Destiny’s smile faded. She remembered the coldness, the silence, and the terrible distance between hearing his voice and being able to answer it. She remembered waking to find him beside her, bloodied and frightened.

“I’m sorry.”

He shook his head. “Don’t apologize for saving those people.”

“I wasn’t sure I would survive.”

“Neither was I.”

He lowered his head and pressed his lips to her knuckles. Destiny tightened her fingers around his hand.

Outside, the voices rose again. She recognized Ramon first, followed by Vance’s deeper voice. Another voice interrupted them, sharp and angry.

Aurora.

Destiny turned toward the door.

“What’s happening?”

Dane’s expression grew guarded. “Vance wants everyone to meet in the hall this morning. The priestess has something to tell us about the Heart Stone, and the driver has been brought back.”

“The driver?”

“The one who witnessed what happened the night the royal child disappeared.”

Destiny stared at him. After everything that had happened, she had almost forgotten the conversation in the hall, the testimony, and the questions about the two babies. But the thought of the driver brought the unease back.

“Do they know who I am?”

“Your mark, the records, and the driver’s account all point in the same direction.” Dane paused. “But Vance wants the truth established properly. He says he owes you that much.”

Destiny looked down at their joined hands.

She had spent her life believing she was an ordinary girl who had been fortunate enough to find parents who loved her. Learning that she might have been born into the Silvercrest royal family had not changed the memories that mattered most. Marcus and Kalessie had raised her. They had protected her, fed her, comforted her, and loved her without asking her to earn it.

She could not imagine calling anyone else her parents.

“What if he really is my father?” she asked.

Dane did not answer immediately.

“Then he will have to learn that being your father means more than claiming you.”

She looked at him, grateful that he understood what she could not yet put into words.

“And Aurora?”

His jaw tightened slightly. “That is what we need to find out.”

By the time Destiny was able to sit up without assistance, the priestess had arrived with fresh bandages and instructions that Dane repeated as though he intended to enforce every one of them. Destiny insisted she could walk with his help. He clearly disagreed, but he eventually helped her dress and supported her down the corridor.

The hall was already occupied when they arrived.

Ramon stood beside Sonia, one arm still held close to his ribs. Henrik was speaking quietly with the guards near the entrance. Hannah and Ivy sat together, both looking exhausted from the previous night’s fighting. Cade and Wolfe stood near the windows, while Cade’s wife was speaking to Marcus and Kalessie. The wagon driver waited near the far wall under the watch of two guards.

Vance stood at the head of the room.

Aurora was there too, beside Elara. Her face was pale, and she looked as though she had spent the night fighting a battle of her own. When Destiny entered, Aurora’s eyes moved to the bandages on her arms before shifting to Dane’s hand around her waist.

For a moment, Destiny thought Aurora might say something about the attack. Instead, Aurora looked away.

The priestess stepped forward, carrying the Heart Stone in both hands. Its pale surface reflected the morning light, silver lines running beneath it.

“The curse has been broken,” she began. “The wolves who survived have returned to their human forms. Some will need time to recover, but the darkness that controlled them is gone.”

A murmur passed through the hall.

“The stone responded to Destiny’s blood,” the priestess continued. “It drew upon her life to reach the cursed pack, but it also restored her. I cannot yet explain every part of what happened. I can only say that the stone recognized something in her that it had not recognized in anyone else.”

Vance’s gaze remained on Destiny.

“The records tell us the Heart Stone belonged to the royal bloodline,” he said. “For generations, we believed it would respond to the rightful heir. I thought that heir was Aurora.”

Aurora’s chin lifted at the sound of her name, but she said nothing.

“I was wrong,” Vance continued. “Destiny’s birthmark, the stone’s response, and the evidence we have recovered all point to the same truth. The child found in the woods on the night my daughter disappeared was not an ordinary infant.”

He paused, and Destiny saw his fingers tighten against the edge of the table.

“She was my daughter.”

The words settled over the hall.

Destiny could hear the faint crackle of the fire near the windows. She felt Dane’s hand close more firmly around hers, but she could not look at him. Her eyes were fixed on Vance, the man who had spent so long searching for a daughter without knowing she had been living beyond his reach.

“Your Majesty,” she began, but her voice faltered.

Vance shook his head. “You do not have to call me that.”

He came around the table, stopping several feet away from her.

“I should have found you. I should have known what happened that night. I cannot change the years you spent away from this palace, and I will not pretend that declaring you my daughter can make up for them.”

His eyes glistened, though he made no effort to hide the emotion in them.

“But I will not deny you again. Destiny, you are the daughter I lost. You are the true princess of Silvercrest.”

Destiny’s chest tightened. She had imagined hearing those words, but imagination had not prepared her for the weight of them.

“I already have parents,” she said quietly. “Marcus and Kalessie raised me. They are my parents, and nothing that happens here will change that.”

Vance lowered his head.

“I would never ask you to abandon them. They gave you the love and protection I failed to give you. I owe them more than I can say.”

Marcus moved closer to Kalessie, and Destiny caught the look they exchanged. Neither appeared threatened by Vance’s words. They looked proud, worried, and deeply moved, as though the truth had finally reached the surface without taking their daughter away from them.

Destiny looked back at Vance.

“I need time.”

“You will have it.”

“And I don’t want anyone making decisions about my life because of my birth.”

Vance nodded. “That is fair.”